The Blasters and Los Lobos share a bond that spans decades &#8211; watch them compare notes at tonight's HOB show

Phil Alvin, music aficionado, can still recall the day 32 years ago when he was seduced by a strange sound.

Alvin and his brother, Dave, had spent a lot of time trolling the record stores, dingy bars and small nightclubs near their home in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, where they were introduced to gritty blues, R&B, country, hillbilly, jazz and assorted other musical forms. The neighborhoods were working class and multiethnic and the music reflected that.

On that day in 1976, though, Alvin found himself in Orange County, where he heard unfamiliar music. Five young Mexican-Americans were playing Mexican folk music with an unusual passion. Alvin recalls buying the group's record out of the back of the band's car.

About five years later, the Blasters – the band the Alvins and their friends formed – played the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, the center of a burgeoning punk rock scene. The band from 1976 showed up that night to check out the scene.

“After the show we went backstage and I don't know why, but we said, 'Hey, we're from East L.A.,' ” recalls Louie Perez, percussionist and songwriter for Los Lobos. “We knew they were from Downey and thought that would make a connection with them. We started talking and hit it off. We wound up leaving the club, got a case of beer and went to Dave Alvin's house, where we played records all night long.”

Soon, the Blasters invited Los Lobos to open for them at the Whisky, which led to more gigs and signing their first record deal. Ultimately, Los Lobos would sell millions of records, earn widespread critical acclaim and capture three Grammys.

And, decades later, Perez is still perplexed how Los Lobos cracked a bustling punk-rock scene in Hollywood in the early 1980s that included such bands as the Blasters, X, the Germs and Agent Orange.

“We were nothing like them,” Perez says. “But they put out a welcome mat for Los Lobos and let us be part of their scene. There we were, playing in the basement of a Chinese restaurant that became a punk club late at night.”

The relationships that began from young musicians sharing their musical passions remain today. Members of the two bands don't see each other often or get the chance to play together frequently, but they share a special bond.

Tonight at downtown's House of Blues, the Blasters, minus Dave Alvin, will open for Los Lobos. It will be a reunion of sorts for musicians who have known each other for most of their lives.

Blasting off

In 1967, Phil Alvin was 14 years old and attending a party in Downey with his friend, John Bazz.

“John said to me, 'I don't really like this music,' ” Alvin says. “I agreed and John said, 'I like that thing they call the blues. Let's start a band.' ”

That was the beginning of the Blasters, whose curious mixtures of musical genres is maybe best described as American music.

“Most bands pick a style of music and then go out and find musicians who can play that style,” Alvin says. “Ours was different. The style settled on us. We don't know what to call it, but it certainly reflects us.”

Songs such as “Marie, Marie,” “So Long Baby Good-Bye,” “Border Radio,” “Long White Cadillac” and “Jubilee Train” left a lasting imprint and the band has survived three decades in the public eye.

Guitarist-songwriter Dave Alvin left the band in 1985 and enjoys a highly productive solo career, but the other three original members – his brother Phil, Bazz and John Bateman – are still together as a band.

Alvin credits growing up in Downey, close enough to the burgeoning music scene of Central Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles, that allowed the band to witness blues singer Big Joe Turner, country swing artist Bob Wills and guitarist T-Bone Walker.

“You learn that music is a context,” he says. “It delivers your history and culture. Music shares that in a way that helps people start to learn about themselves.

“There's a reason music exists. It is to bring forward the collective knowledge that came before you and share it with others.”

Family traditions

The four original members of Los Lobos shared a common heritage. They had grown up in the same East Los Angeles neighborhood, went to Garfield High School and all had heard traditional Mexican music throughout their lives.

But when they got together in 1973, they had their own musical melting pot. Childhood friends David Hildalgo and Perez were in a garage band; guitarist Cesar Rosas led a 13-piece R&B band and bassist Conrad Lozano was playing in a Blue Cheer-styled power trio.

“We didn't just share music as a bond,” Perez says. “We were friends before we were a band.”

On a lark, the band set aside their electric instruments to learn some traditional Mexican songs they would play for Perez' mother's birthday.

“Mexican music had always been in our homes, but we liked rock music,” he says. “As we started to investigate these songs – really listen to them and get into the nuts and bolts of how they worked – we were fascinated. We discovered that what some of the musicians were doing on these songs as just as challenging to us as the stuff (Eric) Clapton and Jimmy Page were playing.”

Eventually, the band returned to its electric instruments and rock 'n' roll, but retained influences and themes from their folk music days.

“We played it hard and played it loud,” Perez says. “We rocked it out.”

After Los Lobos won acceptance in the L.A. punk rock scene, Blasters sax player Steve Berlin began sitting in with the band. He later became a full-time member of Los Lobos, with the blessing of the Blasters.

Alone together

The Blasters and Los Lobos have a shared heritage, but they both have distinct musical directions.

The Blasters energy-packed musical hodgepodge still attracts people who have been attending their shows for nearly 30 years. The music of Los Lobos is continually evolving, yet it retains the markings of kids who grew up together in East L.A.

“We make music that challenges listeners,” Perez says. “We know that we will lose some people along the way. But for us as a band, our enthusiasm is still intact and our sense of mission is still there.”

And, so is a shared history.

“I remember we helped Los Lobos get their first record deal, and they were concerned about what it meant because some of them already had families and they wondered about touring and stuff like that,” Phil Alvin says.

“I have a lot of good memories of being with them. Musicians don't get to see other much, so playing some dates with them is going to be a lot of fun.”